Concert to benefit El Dorado Family Connections: Mentors Plus Program; will also host a raffle for prizes from local artist
$15.00 suggested admission donation for tickets*** May 4th, 6-9 pm
594 Main St.
INFO: www.thecozmiccafe.com
About Andrew McKnight
- Watch Concert Video and Hear Music
- Press Kit & Resume
- Reviews
- Discography
- Publicity Resources
- Booking Information: Performances, Workshops & Programs
- Performance Specs and Technical Requirements
Can't find what you need? Try the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page.
It begins with a dramatic a cappella vocal, followed by a crisp and concise interlude of flatpicked guitar. Then the warm and supple tenor voice settles in to work, delivering literate and cinematic vignettes of rural Americans and their struggles in memorable melodies and compelling twists of phrase. The between song banter is as much of the show as the music, with humorous anecdotes and a theatrical flair for storytelling weaving the music and words into a memorable performance. Such is a typical ANDREW McKNIGHT concert experience.
Since permanently leaving his corporate environmental engineering career in 1996, the award-winning folk and Americana singer/songwriter and Falling Mountain recording artist has traced a musical journey of nearly half a million miles of blue highways and small towns nationwide, and earned him a wealth of critical acclaim and enthusiastic fan response for his five CDs and captivating performances.
That impressive discography includes Beyond Borders, one of five 2005 Americana Album of the Year Finalists in the Independent Music Awards. Borders includes his song "Good Things Matter", Winner of the 2005 Great American Song Contest (Acoustic/Folk). McKnight's 5th CD, Something Worth Standing For, is a tour de force showcase for his songcraft and interpretation of traditional material, as well as for the finest electric, acoustic and slide guitar work of his career.
Wherever McKnight takes the stage, audiences are at once spellbound and relaxed by his entertaining stories delivered with just the right touches of down home humor, causing one concertgoer to label him "equal parts Robert Frost, William Least Heat-Moon and Jeff Foxworthy!". His seemingly boundless energy moves around, one moment in dancing fingers, the next the impassioned delivery of a poignant lyric, followed by a playful rhythmic foot stomp to keep time; here is a man who clearly loves his work.
He has shared those attributes in a wide variety of performance settings, including the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the Kennedy Center, Mountain Stage NewSong Festival, Chattanooga Riverbend Festival, Baltimore's Artscape Festival, and the nationally syndicated public and satellite radio shows "River City Folk" and "The Midnight Special".
While he is the first to say that his life's work and calling as a performing songwriter are full of blessings, McKnight is deeply committed to giving something back every day, both individually and collectively with his record labelmates at Falling Mountain Music.
Spending most of his adult life living at the foot of the Blue Ridge, he has watched massive developments near his home swallow all of Loudoun County's remaining dairy farms. He has become a passionate advocate for the preservation of rural heritage as well as its landscapes, and uses his words and music to tell those stories with heartfelt reverence.
It is a passion McKnight feels directly, living in the heart of land once patrolled by the legendary Confederate guerrilla, John Mosby. Several of McKnight's songs are rooted in Appalachian history and culture, including the haunting Civil War ballad "The Road to Appomattox" and "Company Town", which leads off the acclaimed Moving Mountains: Voices of Appalachia Rise Up Against Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining CD.
In addition to performing, recording and teaching workshops and guitar students, McKnight also is a contributing writer for Americana Rhythm magazine. He enjoys an artist endorsement with Elixir Strings.
In the hallowed marble halls of the John F. Kennedy Center, on a festival stage under a fair summer sky, or in the intimacy of a house concert, an evening with Andrew McKnight's songs and stories is an experience waiting to be savored like a fine wine by a crackling fire.
About the Mentors Plus Program
As
active participants in their own ongoing development, teens
build an array of skills and competencies. We know that healthy
environments promote positive relationships that lead to social,
emotional, and physical well-being. Mentors Plus includes peer
group mentoring that affords positive leadership opportunities,
a safe place to discuss relevant topics, and the chance to
participate in healthy outdoor/adventure activities.
The
program also offers one-to-one mentoring that matches each youth with a
qualified adult volunteer who becomes a supportive friend and advocate
at school and in the community.
Mentors
Plus has ongoing partnerships with a variety of youth serving
organizations including:
California
Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Family Planning
in an effort to reduce teen pregnancy throughout the State of
California.
LEED
– Youth Services Provider Network to “strengthen the ability of
youth practitioners and community organizations to foster the holistic
development of young people”
How
does mentoring make a difference?
Here
are some statistics:
v
68,000 young people
were in California mentoring programs in 2002.
v
98.4% stayed in school
v
85.3% did not use
drugs
v
97.9% did not become
teen parents
Becoming a Mentors Plus Volunteer
Mentors
provide a spark of brightness to a student’s life. Youth participants report
that the time they spend with their mentor is the best part of their week, no
matter what they do together! The mentor-match retention for the Mentors Plus
program is very high; 97% of matches are for 9 months or longer and 74% are for
twelve months or longer.
In
the Mentors Plus program, a mentor is an adult who provides a child with
support, counsel, friendship, reinforcement and constructive example. Mentors
are good listeners, people who care, people who want to help youth bring out
strengths and help them to feel comfortable in their own skin. Research tells us
that the presence of supportive and caring adults in a young person's life is
the #1 indicator leading to his/her future success.
Who would be a good mentor?
Caring
adults who can spend 45 minutes a week with a child. This is a
school-based program. You would be meeting with your child at his/her
school and only while school is in session; about 10 months out of the
year.
Mentors are provided with training and
support to ensure a successful and nurturing experience. Although each
mentor is asked to spend at least 45 minutes per week with his/her
student, many spend as much as 4 hours per-week doing activities such as
"lunch buddies", computer lab, shooting hoops or just talking
and sharing. Mentoring is fun, rewarding, and it works!
Comprehensive
training, background checks and continued support are provided by Family
Connections El Dorado.
Getting
started is easy:
v
Phone or e-mail Family
Connections and leave your contact information
v
Fill out a 1 page application
v
Receive a 1-2 hour training
v
Get fingerprinted ($12 fee
refunded by Family Connections)
v
Attend a 1 hour youth matching
interview with the school site coordinator
v
Become matched with the young
person you will be mentoring
If you are interested in volunteering as a mentor or
know a student who could benefit from a mentoring relationship please contact
Family Connections, Joe Tassinari, (530) 626-5164 ext. 12, joe@familyconnected.org
